Colleagues across NHS Forth Valley said goodbye to a man not only noted for his patience but also his ability as a world-renowned expert for dealing and defusing difficult situations!
Dr Peter Murdoch, who for the past year had been interim Medical Director, received an array of gifts including a stay at a five star hotel, a watch, golf vouchers and a car sticker bearing the words ‘Retired and Loving It’.
The official version of his medical life – in a slide presentation given by Chief Executive Jane Grant – listed Consultant Geriatrician, Medical Manager, Board Member and ‘certainly not boring or quiet.’
Dr Murdoch joined Falkirk and District Royal Infirmary as a consultant physician in geriatric medicine in l983. He had earlier been medical superintendent at a Presbyterian hospital in Nigeria. Other accomplishments have included being chair of the Scottish branch of the British Geriatric Society and a trustee of the Dementia Services Development Trust at the University of Stirling.
Apart from ‘youthful good looks and the patience of a saint’, Dr Murdoch is a dab hand at the trumpet, and was 2nd trumpet in a performance of the Pirates of Penzance!
He is pictured at his retirement celebration with (left) Chief Executive Jane Grant, and his wife Sarah.
Jane Grant thanked him for his massive contribution to the patients of Forth Valley and to the NHS Board. “He has been unfailingly loyal and supportive in challenging situations. He is irreplaceable and will be sadly missed.”
Responding, Dr Murdoch said he had no specific plans for his retirement but thought it was time to go when elderly patients were no longer tapping him on the head and calling him ‘laddie.’
